The Fall 2025 semester is scheduled to begin on August 25, 2025. Review important dates on the academic calendar.
Preparing for Registration
Registration Dates/ Times
Student registration in Banner Self-Service will begin as noted below and access will continue through May 9.
CLASS OF 2026
April 9 – 7AM (Eastern time zone)
CLASS OF 2027
April 11 – 7AM (Eastern time zone)
CLASS OF 2028
April 15 – 7AM (Eastern time zone)
Advising
Make an appointment with your advisor to review course offerings and to seek approval for course registration selections. You will need to obtain your alternate/registration PIN number from your faculty advisor. PINs cannot be released through the Registrar’s Office.
Specific course attributes used to complete Common Course of Study (CCS) requirements* are listed in the course & hours schedule, can be searched through the dynamic schedule, reviewed in the course catalog, or by linking through an unmet CCS requirement in your DegreeWorks audit. Not all courses have CCS attributes.
*The CCS requirements have been revised effective with the Class of 2029. In the fall schedule, “old” and “new” CCS attributes will be listed alphabetically, as applicable.
Holds
To resolve any holds that will block registration, contact the appropriate office (before your registration date) to clear the hold.
For Tuition Invoice, “Student Receivable Controller” holds, please access your student account on your portal. All tuition bills must be paid in full in order to register.
Registering for Courses
Course Load
Select a normal course load** based on your degree/major (usually, 4-5 courses, exclusive of 0.25 credit courses). Be sure to avoid conflicts between selected courses, and plan for at least one or two alternate courses in case a preferred course is closed.
** For A.B. and B.S. Science students, the normal course load is three or four courses; B.S. Engineering students take between three and five courses.
Course Overload
For A.B. and B.S. Science students, registration in excess of 4 courses (4.25 credits), and for B.S. Engineering students, registration in excess of 5 courses (5.25 credits) constitute an overload and will not be accepted during the registration period. Students may seek approval to register for overload courses on a space available basis after the initial registration period only by approval of the Student Affairs Committee through the petition procedure. Previous academic history is a factor in reviewing overload requests. Requests are not reviewed until after final grades are published for spring. Overload petitions will not be accepted with original registration.
Students will not be able to register online for any course which requires an instructor’s signature unless issued anonline registration override by the instructor. (They can still register online for their other course selections.)
Closed Courses
If a course is closed, first consider one of your alternate courses. If you wish to be added to the course wait-list, follow the online registration procedures for wait-listing.
Waitlists
During pre-registration, addition to a waitlist indicates the NEED for a class to the respective department. As such, you cannot be added to a waitlist if you are already registered for a section of the same course, nor can you waitlist yourself for multiple sections of the same course. Waitlisted courses will be recorded as WW or WL on your schedule, but are not fully-registered courses. If a seat becomes available, you will be notified by email and must login to Banner Self-Service within 48 hours to register for the course:
Select “**Web Registered”** from the ‘Action’ dropdown menu for the course section in the ‘Summary’ panel.
Click “Submit.”
IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT LAB COURSES
Only the lab sections will carry wait-lists. If a lecture/lab combination is full, waitlist yourself for the lab. If a seat becomes available, you will be notified by email and must login to Banner Self-Service within 48 hours to register for the course:
Select “**Web Registered”** from the ‘Action’ dropdown menu for the lab section in the ‘Summary’ panel.
Add a lecture section to your summary via one of the registration methods (Find Class, Enter CRN, or from a Plan).
Click “Submit.”
Pass/ Fail – Audit
Pass/ Fail Eligibility–Juniors and Seniors in good standing whose cumulative GPA is 2.00 or higher may, in each semester, take one course on a Pass/Fail basis. A Pass grade (A through D-) does not affect the student GPA, but an “F” grade does count in the GPA. See the Pass-Fail Option in the College Catalog for details and restrictions.
Audit – Review the Auditing Courses policy in the College Catalog. An audit must be declared no later than the end of the two-week drop/add period. Review the Auditing Courses policy in the College Catalog. Permission must be granted by the Academic Progress Committee through the petition procedure and with the approval of the instructor and the academic adviser or the head of the department in which the course is offered. No credit will be granted, but if audit conditions are met the course will be appended to the permanent record.
A student may repeat any course in which a grade no higher than D+ was earned (in any attempt). Review the Repeat Course Policy for more details.
Add / Drop
An online course adjustment (add/drop) will be scheduled prior to the start of the fall semester. Details/dates will be announced.
Important Schedule Reminders
Original preferred sections are not final and may change within constraints of optimal enrollment balance, laboratory space and to accommodate the usual departmental changes in section additions or cancellations. Schedules also may have to be altered to resolve conflicts or use of alternate courses to replace closed options.
Class availability, times and room assignments are subject to change. Up-to-date schedule details can be reviewed in Banner Self-Service.
Student Resources
Privacy of Student Academic Records: FERPA
Each student has the right to limit the access of off-campus parties, excluding government agencies in certain situations, to information that would normally be released in the College Directory or athletic programs. Students who wish to take advantage of this right may do so by making the request in the Registrar’s Office.
(FERPA) affords students certain rights with respect to their education records. They are: (1) The right to inspect and review the student’s education records. (2) The right to request the amendment of the student’s education records to ensure that they are not inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student’s privacy or other rights. (3) The right to consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in the student’s education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent. (4) The right to file with the U.S. Department of Education a complaint concerning alleged failures by Lafayette College to comply with the requirements of FERPA. (5) The right to obtain a copy of Lafayette College’s student records policy. You can obtain a copy of the policy from the Registrar’s Office.
A full-time Lafayette day student may cross register for a course suitable to Lafayette degree programs, but which cannot be scheduled or is not offered at Lafayette. Courses are available at any one of the other member institutions of the Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges (LVAIC): Cedar Crest College, DeSales University, Lehigh University, Moravian University, and Muhlenberg College, provided the student has approval of faculty adviser, the Lafayette Registrar, and the appropriate persons at the host institution, and provided such course does not produce an overload. Grades will be accepted from the LVAIC institutions. Credits taken through cross registration will be accepted toward Lafayette residency requirements.
A new Student Syllabus Resource is available on Spaces. You will also find a link on your my.lafayette.edu portal and on the Office of Advising and Co-Curricular Programs website. This credential-controlled resource is intended as a way to help Lafayette students and faculty learn more about selected course offerings at the College. Participation is optional; there are many reasons why a faculty member might choose not to upload a syllabus or other documentation, but you can always reach out directly to instructors with questions about their courses. FAQs can be found HERE.